In Drop D you retune just one string: the low E string goes down a whole step to D. From low to high the strings are then D A D G B E. All the other strings stay as they are.
How to retune
Pluck the low E string and the D string (third from the top) one after the other. Slowly loosen the low string until it sounds exactly one octave below the D string – the two then almost blend into one note. It’s even easier with the tuner.
One-finger power chords
What makes Drop D special: the three lowest strings (D A D) played open already make a strong power chord (D5). Lay one finger across those three strings at the same fret and the chord moves: fret 2 gives E5, fret 3 F5, fret 5 G5, fret 7 A5. Don’t play the three high strings. Lots of rock songs sound just like this.
What changes in your chords
Every chord that doesn’t use the low E string stays exactly the same – for example C, A and Am. Only where the low string rings along do you fret it two frets higher: E becomes 2 2 2 1 0 0 from low to high. For G that would be too much of a stretch – just play the four high strings (x x 0 0 0 3) or, for a full sound, 5 5 0 0 0 3. In return, D now sounds really full on all six strings (0 0 0 2 3 2) – songs in D love this tuning.
Setting it up in the app
Open the tuner, tap “Other tuning …” at the bottom and choose “Drop D”. The tuner, chord charts, songs and the blues neck then follow this tuning, and a note appears at the top of every page. “Back to standard tuning” puts everything back.
To the tuner